Pocket Pistol Side Match

[Dapper Dave]

I saw what is in the handbook, and other than a description of allowed pistols and distance from 0-3 yards and no steel targets...there ain't much there. Just out of plain curiosity, what Pocket Pistol side matches have you seen or shot, and how were they set up? If I start using this 120 year old Iver for a side match, I need to know how many gallery rounds to load.   

[Rattlesnake Slim]

Usually 5 rounds at a paper plate, fast as you can.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

Usually only offered at Big matches.

[Dapper Dave]

Just point and shoot, nothing special.?

[Cholla]

Nope. Just go as fast as you can go. There are videos on YouTube.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Right off the bat, there are a plethora of "old timey" pocket pistols out there in calibers ranging from .32 Short Colt to some obscure, mostly foreign, .45 caliber cartridges.   There are double and single action revolvers as well.   The most common calibers are probably .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long and  .38 S&W.

 

While the vast majority of our types of pocket pistols are over, will soon be over, 100 years old, pocket pistol does not automatically mean antique.  Nor does it mean worn out, or, depending on make, model and date of manufacture, black powder only.   Among other things, I have an antique S&W that the gunsmith who sold it to me thinks has never been fired, for example.   All of my pockets are in shootable shape, and only about half of them are black powder only pistols.

And, believe it or not, there were some pocket pistols that are SASS legal that were made well into the middle part of the 20 century.

 

That being said, I have seen two types of pocket pistol side matches.

 

1.  Speed.  Usually 4 shots on alternating targets.  (Some pocket pistols are 6 shot revolvers and some are 5 shot, based on size/caliber, so they tend to be set at 4 rounds for safety.)    I actually won one of these one year!  

2.  Accuracy.  Usually a paper target with 4 bullseyes on it.  Shot(s) closest to the bull wins.   Haven't won this one, but it is fun to try. 

 

I have also read of side matches where the pocket pistol takes the place of a main match pistol in an otherwise similar to a main match stage, but have never seen one.    Would be eager to try it if I was at a shoot with one.

[Griff]

The ones I've shot were 5 shots for speed,, either on one target or on 5 targets (usually paper plates) and 3-5 yards to as close as across a poker table.  

[Assassin]

We shoot steel with no problems.

Also do a long range pp, target is set at 25 yards.

 

[Chancy Shot, SASS #67163]

At our local annuals and the past two Illinois state matches at the Illowa Irregulars, we have used the following:

 

Speed Pocket Pistol

         

Target: Three steel plates at approximately 7 yards.

Ammo requirements: 5 rounds loaded, hammer down.

Starting position: Standing with pistol in hand with muzzle touching table.

At the Beep: Shooter will engage targets in a Nevada Sweep. Each miss is a 5 second penalty. Time and misses will be recorded. 

[Hoss]

Most have been 5 shots on a paper plate  at 3-5’. Really close. Start with muzzle touching table. Start your own timer. Usually takes <1.5 seconds to win   That’s why it’s start your own timer. Can’t jump the beep that way! 
 

Pocket pistols are fun to collect and shoot. Not real expensive. It’s fun imagining where they spent most of their life. Gamblers vest, sportin house madams garter belt, under a bar. Bad guys boot. 
 

 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

How are these events with 5 shots being done safely with the fairly typical 5 shot revolvers with no safety notch?   Hammer would have to be down on a loaded chamber.

[PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L]

1 hour ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

How are these events with 5 shots being done safely with the fairly typical 5 shot revolvers with no safety notch?   Hammer would have to be down on a loaded chamber.

 

Usual procedure is: Shooter goes to the firing position, loads revolver, waits for the "beep"...engages target(s)...unloads.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

17 minutes ago, PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L said:

 

Usual procedure is: Shooter goes to the firing position, loads revolver, waits for the "beep"...engages target(s)...unloads.

Okay...   

Actually, with some of my pockets I can see how that would work.   You gotta put 'em on half cock to open them (top breaks) which keeps firing pin off pin off primer when closed.  

Similar to a derringer, I suppose.

Makes sense.   Thanks.

[Three Foot Johnson]

2 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

How are these events with 5 shots being done safely with the fairly typical 5 shot revolvers with no safety notch?   Hammer would have to be down on a loaded chamber.

You don't start with the pistol in your pocket. It's on the table, or in hand with the muzzle touching the table. Five rounds in a five shot cylinder is OK.

You'll never see a derringer side match shot with only one round in the pistol either. 

 

[PaleWolf Brunelle, #2495L]

Here are a few of mine (most are SASS-legal for side match use):

 

 

[Eyesa Horg]

This is starting to appear as an addictive event!!

[Sheriff Dill]

5 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

This is starting to appear as an addictive event!!

That’s what I was thinking too 😁definitely has me intrigued. 

[Dapper Dave]

Well, my weird little gallery load might come in handy after all...

[Dapper Dave]

I know this thread has been dormant for a while, but I asked my Territorial Governor about pocket pistol matches and he said we had never done one...because nobody HAS one. However, he was open to adding it to the Annual Match in November.

Side note, safety wise, I found it interesting that my little Iver Johnson actually has a transfer bar safety, and the even smaller Harrington and Richards Young American 32SW I am trying to acquire also has a transfer bar safety - I seriously thought that was a recent, (like last 60-70 years), development.

I did try the little Iver at 5 yards with the black powder gallery load a few weeks ago. That looks paper plate sized. I think I need to go easier on the lube - gobs of black lube ended up on the target at that range.